A Column of Fire

A Column of Fire – Ken Follett

First, let me just say that if you’ve never read Ken Follett’s ‘Pillars of the Earth’, please make sure it’s the very next book you read. It is the consensus of many that it’s simply one of the best novels of all time. I’ve read it twice (rare for me) and would love to give it at least one more go-through before I die.  I mention this tidbit because A Column of Fire is actually the third part of the trilogy that started with ‘Pillars of the Earth’, yet to be quite honest, the similarities are rare and there really isn’t any sort of continuity.  I could say the same thing about Book 2 – ‘A World Without End’.  All of these books take place a long time ago, in the town of Kingsbridge, England, but it’s not necessary that you read these books in order. In fact, this book takes place about 500 years after the first installment.

Even though this book wasn’t as nearly as good as ‘Pillars’, I still thought it was a very strong book and satisfying read. In a strange way, the structure of this book was a lot more like Follett’s recent ‘The Century’ trilogy. He’s using real events as background to shape a fictitious story. Since this book takes place mostly in the 16^th century, most of the historical figures aren’t as well-known as they are in the ‘Century’ trilogy, so in addition to a good story, you’re getting a history lesson as well.

The ‘history’ is the religious war between the Catholic church and the recently formed Protestants. After Martin Luther nailed up his thesis, the Catholic church (that basically controlled all of Europe) was none too happy.  So a lot of petty (but brutal) arguing over who worships God the correct way happens during this time.  The book is heavily Protestant. I imagine a devout Catholic just may find enough to be offended by this story. Although history shows us that it wasn’t the teachings of the faith that were so harsh, yet the fact the Catholic church became so corrupted because of the greediness of many of its leaders.  Despite what some will argue, the separation of church and state is a very good thing.

Much of the story is typical Follett. Although this is his only story to take place in the 16^th century, I confess that I felt like I’ve read so many of the elements of this story in his prior books.  You know – a young couple who are in love, but they can’t get married because their parents have ‘other plans’ for them.  So a lot of unhappiness due to forged marriages, people wondering ‘what if’, children fathered out of wedlock, good people being swindled out of money by back-stabbing associates, and on and on  and on.  Also, Follett is a heavily feminist author and his ‘anti-male’ sentiments tend to wear one down a bit. Yes, we know women were subjugated throughout much of history, but Follett always has to interject inane dialog that seems forced and contrived like “You’re a woman. What do YOU know?”, “It’s not a woman’s place to make decisions”, and “We can’t trust a mere woman to come up with a reasonable plan….”   It gets a bit ridiculous after a while.

The sweeping story takes place with a lot of characters over three continents (England, France, and Spain) with a multitude of characters – about half real and half fiction.  In fact, there really isn’t anything ‘Kingsbridge’ about this book.  Yes, much of the story takes place there, and we’re reminded of the ‘magnificent church built several hundred years ago’, but all of this is a bit superfluous.  You have to wonder if they only reason we’re in Kingsbridge is so the author can capitalize on the success of the first book of the three.

In fact, I really wish there could have been a bit more story and a bit less politics/history.  I’m being picky, of course.  It’s just that 900 pages is quite the read, and one can tend to find areas where things could have been a tad better in terms of flow.  This was still a very captivating book and I highly recommend it.  No, it’s no ‘Pillars of the Earth’, but very few books are.